Anupam Jena and colleagues Yusuke Tsugawa, Jose F. Figueroa, E. John Orav, Daniel M. Blumenthal and Ashish K. Jha published research in JAMA Internal Medicine that analyzed 30-day admission rates between male and female physicians for hospitalized elderly patients. The result? Female physicians outperformed their male counterparts by 0.5 percent.

The number may seem small, but it would translate to 32,000 fewer deaths a year just in Medicare, which were the data the researchers highlighted.

This research was the first national study to assess male and female physicians’ clinical performance based on their outcomes.

The research was highlighted in WBUR, Associated Press and Kaiser Health News, among others.